American Airlines and pilots agree on labor proposal language

AMR Corp. and its pilots union have reached an agreement on the language for a new labor deal, according to the union’s Friday announcement. The parent of American Airlines and the Allied Pilots Association (APA) have been in talks over the language of the agreement, as AMR tries to emerge from bankruptcy and reduce its labor costs. The union will vote on the new deal soon.

AMR accepted the APA’s “counter-proposal” to the company’s previous offers late last week. The union’s 7,500 pilots must ratify the new contract.

Although he wouldn’t disclose specifics of the deal, union spokesman Dennis Tajer said it was "industry-standard,” which has been the union’s goal all along.

"There is potential for an agreement with AMR in the days ahead, but it all comes down to a number of moves management will need to make on key deal points to bring us into the realm of industry standard," the union said in a statement last month.

A spokesman for AMR said the latest deal is a compromise. "We worked hard with the [pilots'] negotiating committee to structure an agreement that addresses the priorities identified as most important to our pilots, while staying within the economic framework supported by the Unsecured Creditors' Committee to ensure American's successful restructuring," Bruce Hicks said in a statement.